It is time to finally cover the most iconic weapon of the PUN, just as recognizable as the red power armor of the Protectorate's ground forces.
Vessels of the Protectorate United Navies part 12: The Cain Wing - declassified
The F1S Cain Wing is a variable geometry multi-role fighter in use by the Cainite Protectorate. As the primary strike craft of the early Protectorate Fighter Corps, the F1S has served as a space/air superiority fighter, interceptor, fighter bomber and close air support strike craft. While a new generation of strike craft is being developed, the Cain Wing will remain in service for many decades and possibly centuries to come. Various second line assignments such as convoy escorts and local System Defense Forces will continue to receive newly built Cain Wings, supplemented by Navy surplus fighters as the new fighters, heavy fighters and bombers of the Second Generation Strike Craft Program will eventually replace the F1S in frontline service.
The Cain Wing is a technological marvel, created by the Borgs using their own expertise in anti-gravity tech and many long lost secrets from the Dark Age of Technology that were recovered from the space hulk Emeli's Gift. Most obvious is this in the size of the F1S. Compared to the many different models of Fury interceptors in use by the Imperial Navy, the Cain Wing is somewhere between half and a quarter the size and a fraction of the weight.
These two factors, combined with redesigned and optimized hangar bay layouts, allow the PUN to deploy the Cain Wing in great numbers, greater than one could reasonably expect from a burgeoning star nation. Yet freed from the shackles of Martian doctrine and with access to a treasure trove of Archeotech the Borgs have managed to create a military aviation industry capable of keeping up with the ever greater demand for the F1S.
The crew consists only of one pilot, assisted by several machine spirits that manage the sensors, shields, power distribution, inertial compensators, weapons and all the other subsystems, greatly reducing the strain on the pilot.
The greatest strength of the Cain Wing is arguably its maneuverability. The combination of powerful conventional plasma propulsion and gravity engines give the F1S incredible acceleration and deceleration, allowing the pilots to perform maneuvers that let them go toe to toe with Eldar star fighters while dancing around any Imperial opponents.
The Cain Wing's structural durability and armor strength are very comparable to the Fury Interceptor, despite its smaller size and lighter weight. The composite materials from which the F1S is constructed allow it to withstand a reasonable amount of damage, yet the aircraft's active protection systems are of much greater importance, with the armor acting as a last line of defense.
Equipped with void shield generators, the Cain Wing can take a lot more punishment than its size would suggest. Decoys and augur dust pellets as well as sensor scramblers and other electronic warfare systems let the F1S pilots hinder the enemy in getting a clear target and disrupt homing weapons.
Two chin-mounted Las-lances under the cockpit make up the integral armament of the Cain Wing, with the option of another two mounted on the inner wing tips. These weapons fire powerful laser beams with deadly precision, aided by their dedicated targeting machine spirit which can make micro course corrections to aim the weapons perfectly.
A variety of munitions can also be mounted on the external hardpoints of the F1S.
The No.101 "Strikespear" missile is a homing missile with a multi-sensor seeker. The weapon's payload comes in the form of a plasma warhead. The Strikespear can be used against all manner of targets, be they tanks, jetbikes, anti aircraft installations, aircraft or defense turrets on enemy spaceships.
The No.201 "Heatwave" plasma bomb is the heavy duty weapon of the Protectorate Fighter Corps. Bulkier and heavier than the Strikespear, the programmable trigger sequence of this guided bomb allows it to switch between detonation modes. The focused blast sequence allows the weapon to break open hardened targets and melt through heavy armor, be it a fortification, titan or spaceship. The dispersed detonation sequence can rip through large formations of exposed targets and flood an area in a vaporizing wave of plasma.
Before writing this I asked Zahariel via PM about the size of the Cain Wing. Turns out that it is in fact the same size as in SWTOR, which is frankly bonkers, considering the usual size of space combat strike craft in 40k. By my estimates, a Supremacy Starfighter is about the size of a modern real world fighter jet. Meanwhile online sources talking about the Fury interceptor say that the Imperium's primary void fighter is 40-70 meters in length, depending on the pattern.
For a rough real world comparison, take a F-16 fighter jet and put it next to a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 at the low end and a 777 or A350 at the high end.
A PUN hangar bay could easily fit three times the number of Cain Wings compared to the number of Fury interceptors that could be supported. Alternatively the extra capacity can be filled with other strike craft and troop transports. A navy built around a carrier strike doctrine makes complete sense under these considerations, especially as the Cain Wing not only has the advantage in quantity, but also quality.
The Cain Wing incorporates Dark Age Technologies in its design and outperforms most other strike craft in every metric, except for high end Eldar and Necron fighters and other human Dark Age Archeotech fighters. A single Defiant class light cruiser stuffed to the brim with Cain Wings has enough strike power to kill ships way above its own weight class.
Defense platforms and star fortresses should be built primarily as armored boxes with hangar bays.
Next up will be the new fangled series of aircraft of the Second Generation Strike Craft Program - The Black Birds.